


School Spirit

by ARustySpork



Series: Several Shots at Oneshots [2]
Category: Falsettos - Lapine/Finn
Genre: Blue Whales, Lipstick, M/M, Photography, Sports, Track and Field, Yearbook
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 15:48:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18803407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ARustySpork/pseuds/ARustySpork
Summary: “Fine then,” she said, twisting part of the tube to reveal a stick of pigmented blue lipstick, “at least put some of this on.”Marvin jerked back when Cordelia reached forward to try and apply it to his lips. “What? No way am I putting on lipstick.”Charlotte scoffed, “don’t be such a baby, we’ll all put it on, if it makes you feel better.”





	School Spirit

**Author's Note:**

> I've written about three failed works with the same variation of this scene since I love it so much. I needed a chance to put it somewhere, so here we are.
> 
> Also, I didn't really proofread this, so I apologize in advance for any errors.

Marvin cheered at the top of his lungs as he watched Charlotte and Cordelia sprint across the finish line. Mendel was right beside him, waving one of those plastic hand clappers around and jumping up and down. Charlotte finished a few seconds before Cordelia, coming in first and second place. They hugged immediately after Cordelia crossed the finish line, to the view of the annoyed athletes who had placed after them. The girls ran over to where Mendel and Marvin were standing to receive two handed high fives.

“Nice job!” Mendel exclaimed with a wide smile, handing them their water bottles. “talk about future Olympic athletes.”

They were at the regional track and field meet for their high school team. Marvin had never been one for sports, but he had been dragged in last year by Mendel, so he’d have someone to stay with in a hotel on the overnight trips. It turns out, Marvin was actually not a bad thrower. All the throwing events were first, he had placed first in javelin, and third in shotput and discus. Cordelia and Charlotte were the sprinters, Mendel was the long-distance runner, but his events weren’t until the end. It was kind of nice that their events were spread out like that, it meant they each had a little cheering section every time they competed.

“That’s right,” Cordelia grinned, “the Blue Whales have done it again. What is that, nine medals?”

Right, the Blue Whales, their school mascot. Probably the most stupid animal to base a school sports team on, even if they were a swim team. Whales aren’t very fast, and their mascot costume looked fucking ridiculous. Despite the ridiculous name, the track team was pretty good. Mostly carried by the four of them, of course.

“I think so,” Marvin chimed in, doing a quick tally on his fingers. “That was your last race, right?”

Cordelia nodded, reaching into her backpack and taking out her school hoodie to pull on over her jersey. “C’mon,” she said, gesturing to Marvin, who was wearing a red zip-up sweater over his jersey instead of a school hoodie, “show some school spirit.”

Marvin shrugged. “The school hoodies are way too expensive, no way I’m forking over sixty bucks for something I’m only gonna wear one more year.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes, not bothering to argue with him as she stuffed her water bottle back into her bag. When she stood back up, she was holding a plastic tube.

“Fine then,” she said, twisting part of the tube to reveal a stick of pigmented blue lipstick, “at least put some of this on.”

Marvin jerked back when Cordelia reached forward to try and apply it to his lips. “What? No way am I putting on lipstick.”

Charlotte scoffed, “don’t be such a baby, we’ll all put it on, if it makes you feel better.”

“Not me,” Mendel interjected, causing his three friends to look at him with raised eyebrows. “What? I have sensitive lips, I’m allergic to most lip balms. This is an accident waiting to happen.”

“Okay,” Charlotte said, narrowing her eyes at Mendel, “then Cordelia and I will wear it.”

Marvin sighed, knowing he didn’t want to be “that guy.” The guy who wouldn’t wear makeup because he thought it made him less of a man. That wasn’t him. So that’s why he just stood there, letting Cordelia apply the bold blue pigment to his lips.

“Awww,” she said, pulling away to observe her work. “You look cute, it compliments your eyes.”

“Is it bad that I really want to lick my lips right now?” Marvin questioned, trying to resist the urge.

“Probably,” Charlotte replied, stuffing the lipstick tube back into her bag.

“You guys wanna grab some food?” Mendel asked, gesturing with his head to what looked like a parent-run canteen offering various snacks.

“Is it really a good idea to eat right before you race?” Marvin questioned.

“Bold of you to assume I have good ideas,” Mendel challenged.

“You guys go,” Marvin offered, taking a seat on the bleachers, “I’ll watch our stuff. Just…get me a chocolate bar or something.”

His friends nodded, stalking off towards the table. Marvin drummed his fingers along his knees as he waited by himself. There was a 400m race taking place on the field, there was one kid from his school running in it, but no one he recognized. He pulled out his phone to check it, no notifications. He zipped up his backpack. He stared at the grass, picking a blade just so he could tear it to pieces. Maybe he should have gone with them to get snacks.

“Nice lips.”

Marvin jumped, startled by the sudden noise. He turned his head, now looking at the body belonging to the unknown voice. To his right was a boy about his age, walking along the bleachers to approach him. He had some fancy camera around his neck, he was wearing a sweater sporting the logo of another school. Marvin didn’t know this kid, but he was apparently from the area. He was tall, and had swoopy brown hair that probably took hours to style.

“What?” Marvin said, slightly caught of guard.

“Your lipstick,” he explained, “it looks good.”

Shit, the lipstick. He had forgotten about it, too busy thinking about grass apparently.

“Oh, yeah,” Marvin replied, mentally stumbling over his words. “School spirit?” It was more of a question than an explanation.

“Right,” the boy replied, with a harmless smirk. “You an athlete?”

“Yeah,” Marvin responded with a whisper. He was unsure of why this boy had chosen to strike up a conversation with him of all people, but he did know that he was terrible at conversations. Even with people he knew, he was unable to find a way to keep the talking going. Maybe it was because he replied with one-word answers, like an idiot, like he was doing right now. Marvin knew that he would never want to have a conversation with someone who replied with short sentences, yet that was exactly what he was doing. Marvin was a hypocrite.

“Mind if I take a photo?” the boy asked, lifting one of his legs over the other side of the bench so he was straddling it. He lifted his camera into his hands and started fiddling with some of the buttons.

Marvin blinked. “Why would you want to take a picture of me?”

The boy shrugged. “The yearbook could use a pretty face. It’s better than another one of those photos of football players in mid-sprint.”

Marvin just nodded his head silently, not saying anything because this cute, random guy just called him pretty and wow, was he blushing? Because he couldn’t blush from a single compliment from some guy.

“Should I smile, or…?”

The boy lifted the camera up to his face. “No,” he said, “just listen.”

Marvin looked at the boy, taking this opportunity to notice how handsome he really was. 

“Okay,” the boy continued, his finger hovering over the capture button, “what do you call an alligator detective?”

Marvin paused in anticipation.

“An investi-gator.”

Marvin’s face only remained blank for a second, before his unfazed expression fell, his straight face cracking into a grin at how bad the joke was. There was a flash as the picture was taken, capturing Marvin mid-giggle. The boy brought the camera down from his face and looked at the screen, seemingly viewing the photo he had just snapped. The corners of his lips turned up as he examined it.

The boy slid over, sidling right up to Marvin. He turned the camera so Marvin could see the screen.

“The key to taking great portraits,” he explained, watching Marvin’s face as he looked at the camera, “is capturing them when they drop the façade.”

Marvin raised an eyebrow. “Façade?”

He nodded. “Everyone has once, a face they make to the camera in an attempt to show their best side. I find the best way to capture someone’s true beauty, is to catch them trying not to laugh at a dad joke. Works like a charm.”

Marvin tilted his head. This unorthodox method certainly wasn’t what he had been expecting. 

“It’s a good picture,” he continued. “The light hits you really nice, I’d say this is yearbook material. Maybe even better.”

“I’m Marvin,” Marvin said, offering a hand. He figured he should probably know the name of the boy who seemed to be flirting with him.

“Whizzer,” the boy countered, shaking Marvin’s hand and holding onto it for a few seconds longer than necessary.

“Do you normally do the photos for yearbook?” Marvin asked, “I've never seen you out before.”

“I normally do photos for the football and baseball team, but the girl that normally does them was busy today, so I took over.”

“Oh.”

“I actually kind of like this,” Whizzer said, turning to look at the field. The sun was beginning to set, surely Mendel’s race would be starting soon. “It’s way laxer compared to group sports, everyone’s a lot nicer to each other. Maybe I’ll start covering track and field more often.” He quickly glanced at Marvin before returning his gaze to the field.

“You should,” Marvin blurted out, immediately regretting his words. Why should Whizzer cover track and field more often? Oh, just because Marvin was developing a tiny little crush on him and he needed an excuse to see him and talk to him.

“Yeah?” Whizzer smiled. He seemed to notice the panic in Marvin’s eyes as he desperately internally searched for a way to explain his words.

“I mean, the car rides back are always fun.”

“I'm sure any car with you in it would be fun.”

Marvin smiled to himself, unconsciously tugging on the sleeves of his sweater. Back on the field, a line of athletes was forming at the starting point. There, with a distinguishable head of curly hair, was Mendel, beginning his first race.

“I should get down there,” Whizzer announced, spinning his camera so it hung over his shoulder by the strap. “Photographer and all.”

“Yeah, right, of course.”

Whizzer stood up, pausing before he began his descent down the bleachers. “Hopefully I’ll…see you around.”

“Yeah. Hopefully.”

With a small smile and a nod, Whizzer was gone. Marvin watched as he made his way down the metal walkway and over to the field, not once averting his eyes. Marvin wasn’t completely sure what had just happened, since he found it unbelievable that a cute stranger would have ever decided to strike up a conversation with him.

“Hey loser.”

Charlotte sat down next to him, chucking a Kit-Kat lightly at his head. Cordelia rounded to his other side and sat down there.

“Mendel’s starting his race, we were just gonna dump off our food then go watch. What’d we miss?”

Marvin looked over to Whizzer, who was kneeling along the edge of the track and snapping pictures on his far too fancy camera. His hair blew back in the wind, and the toes of his shoes dug into the grass.

“Nothing,” Marvin replied. “Nothing at all.”

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave any suggestions or prompts you have for future oneshots. I'd value any ideas you guys have.
> 
> As always, comments are appreciated.
> 
> Have a good day!


End file.
